“What we are doing is working fine,” Hopkins said. “We don’t need to be a charter school to continue doing what we are doing.”

Hopkins, a retired Jackson Public Schools administrator, opened the school in 2010 after being denied charter status. It’s under the oversight of Suttons Bay Public Schools near Traverse City, which receives the state per-pupil aid for its students and pays the Jackson Learning Lab’s expenses.

The school allows students to take classes online or in a classroom at 113 W. Michigan Ave. All can receive help from four certified teachers who are on staff and all have contact with a teacher in Suttons Bay schools.

Dr, Roxana Hopkins smiles as she talks on the phone at the Learning Lab in Jackson. Hopkins is the director of the lab, which is an online public high school serving students in seventh- through 12th-grades and is under the oversight of Suttons Bay Public Schools.J. Scott Park | MLive.com

The Jackson Learning Lab is an alternative for students whose lives don’t mesh with a traditional school setting, Hopkins said. Some students are responsible for younger siblings or have children of their own, while others are homeless, have full-time jobs, struggle with certain subjects or want to work at a faster pace than their peers, she said.

Hopkins tried again for charter status after Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation last December that lifted the cap on how many charter schools Michigan’s public universities can authorize. At the time, Hopkins said the school would benefit from having the local board of education that charter status would give it, but no one would agree to authorize the school.

“Suttons Bay believes what we do in that all kids have a right to an education,” Hopkins said.

With its online, virtual learning program, the Jackson Learning Lab is meeting the state’s push for anytime, anyplace, any pace learning, Hopkins said. Suttons Bay also has more than 200 virtual students and has hired an outreach coordinator to continue growing its numbers.

The school is also subject to the same rules as other public schools. For instance, two students who have been expelled from other schools under the state’s zero tolerance policy for weapons possession at school cannot have contact with other students. Mentors meet with them for lessons at separate locations, Hopkins said.

And its rules for count day are a little different than those of traditional public schools, Hopkins said. On count day, students must log in to a class and then log in to classes nine more times within 30 days to be counted.

Since its inception, the Jackson Learning Lab has graduated four students and Hopkins expects to graduate about nine more this year. The Suttons Bay district sends a bus to Jackson so students and their families can participate in its ceremonies there.

“We tell students they will make it if they work hard every day, and they do,” Hopkins said. “I’m a firm believer that kids will rise to your expectations.”